1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to hard, wear-proof surfaces on a metallic material and somewhat more particularly to a method of generating such surfaces without altering the mechanical or physical properties of the base material.
2. Prior Art
Anti-wear layers are being increasingly employed for improving the wear behavior of, for example, working surfaces of tools, structural parts and function units. A multitude of layers, which can be industrially applied and which exhibit different properties, depending upon manufacturing conditions, are available for this purpose.
Hard, wear-proof surface layers can be produced with tradional thermal and/or thermo-chemical techniques (for example, boronation, carburization, nitridation, etc). Thermal techniques generally involve heating a ferrous material to temperatures in the austenite range (about 850.degree. to 950.degree. C.) with a subsequent, rapid quenching. Thermo-chemical techniques involve decomposing, as by the application of heat, compounds of boron, nitrogen or carbon at a surface of a part to be hardened and allowing the so-released element to diffuse into this surface.
A disadvantage resulting from using thermal techniques is that a hardenable, heat-resistant material is required or, with thermo-chemical techniques, a disadvantage is that the relatively high temperatures and long process times required can cause a negative influence on the base material so that satisfactory use properties are not obtained for the overall system. A partial hardening is not possible with these known techniques.